


The Only Bloke

by Kinda_Kozy



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bickering, Canon Compliant, F/M, Friendship, Hogwarts Fourth Year, Humor, Hysterical Ron, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Jealousy, Missing Scene, POV Hermione Granger, Rarry but not really, Secret Crush, Seriously...a lake?, Triwizard Tournament, What did the other students watch?, What were they thinking when they made the 2nd task?, Yule Ball (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-13 22:54:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29036571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kinda_Kozy/pseuds/Kinda_Kozy
Summary: Ever wonder what happened the night before the second triwizard tournament's task? Ever wonder how they settled on the hostages that they took? Yeah, so did Ron.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger & Harry Potter & Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger/Viktor Krum
Comments: 12
Kudos: 42





	The Only Bloke

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks Accio-Broom for the Beta read on this one. I've revamped this one a couple times from its first inception as a running joke between me and my sister and I think it gets better every time

"So," Ron began his matinee performance with a flourish of his hands. He paused to think about which details to embellish—or cut—this time around. Listeners joined the fray as he settled into his seat by the fire.  


"Hermione and I were walking alone in the corridor. We turned the corner and BAM! We see them! Cho Chang and Fleur's kid sister are surrounded by merpeople.” The audience murmured in excitement. “Somehow, they'd grown disgusting grotesque pimply legs from where their fins were. Immediately, we ran to help. Cho was doing her best to ward them off, but there were too many for her to handle alone, stunning spells went flying as they approached us. So...they took Hermione first—"  


Across the common room, Hermione’s head shot up at the mention of her name. "Why do I get taken _first_?" She interjected, rather insulted by the part she played in Ron's fabrication of the day.  


"I don't know, Hermione. You tell me— _you were there_ ," Ron shot back, through gritted teeth, as his credibility slipped away. Hermione rolled her eyes and went back to ignoring Ron and his groupies. It wasn't worth starting the row.  


"So, where was I? Oh, yeah, _Hermione was taken first_ ," He started up again, with snarky cheer. "She swooned with fright," He added pointedly staring at Hermione across the way. The crowd giggled at his impression of her distress. Hermione harrumphed and sunk further into her seat to glare at her book. The words stubbornly blended together so she kept re-reading the same over and over.  


"Cho ran to try to save her but she left the girl, Gabrielle, unprotected and they quickly grabbed her too. As the group hauled her off, she screamed bloody murder." He paused for effect, and Lavender Brown shivered in sympathy. "I would have saved her," Ron went on, in a huskier voice that made Hermione suppress her gag-reflex. "But they seemed to be multiplying by the dozens and before I knew it those merfreaks had taken Cho, too. I knew I could have probably fought my way through them but then suddenly they sprung into the air and backed me into the corner and snatched my wand. Right out of my grip." His hand formed a rock solid fist in demonstration.  


This made Hermione lose all control and her head fell down to the table she was reading at and her shoulders shrugged up and down in silent giggles.  


"SO," Ron still had to give his "spine-shivering" last line. "With no other alternative, I let them take me."  


Hermione stifled her laughter and gave the crowd of Gryffindors around him a small reproving glare. She wished he wouldn’t perpetuate the story over and over, but she knew it came from a selfish place. Sure, a part of her would like to call him out for lying or, at least, politely ask Ron to stop calling the intelligent beings in the lake ‘Merfreaks’. However, the real reason she wasn’t keen on hearing the story three times a day was because it just reminded her and the entire school about her part in the second task of the tournament.  


While the sentiment had been endearing at first, the pressure of Viktor's attention was mounting. He had _kissed_ her at the ball. At the time, it had seemed like a good idea to let a boy that liked her kiss her. A perfectly logical step to take, if for no other reason than to get the daunting milestone of a first kiss out of the way. And it was fine. It was _nice_ , even.  


But then, she was suddenly the thing he’d miss most? He had asked about her summer plans, inviting her to Bulgaria to visit with him. Again, it sounded lovely in theory, but every time she seriously considered accepting, she thought about the time that she would miss at the Burrow...with Harry and the Weasleys...with Ron.  


Not that she could talk to any of them about this. Practically out of spite, she was thoroughly committed to letting Ron believe whatever he wanted about her relationship with Viktor. Their explosion at the Ball had made it clear to her that Ron would not listen even if she explained. He had made up his mind already; why waste her breath? It was pretty much the same as the rest of the school.  


She abhorred the judgment, but Ron had been right in a sickening way. The entire school felt it was their right to weigh in on her 'betrayal to Hogwarts'. The fellow Gryffindors were not above cashing in their 2 knuts on the matter, either. It all brought her crashing back to the fact that she had a whole lot of unsolicited attention.  


At the end of it all, Hermione took solace in the fact that Ron was happy with his 15 minutes of fame. Supporting him as a friend was worth it, even if it meant glossing over the awkward details of the night of the Yule Ball.  


Just as Hermione was contemplating Ron's new found popularity, his group dispersed and he wandered over to the chair across the table from hers. She watched him with a smirk.  


"What?" he questioned her amusement.  


"I was just thinking," she said, a cheshire smile blooming."You must have told that story so many different ways you probably don't even remember what _really_ happened."  


"I do, too," Ron protested. Then he waved his hand to quiet her, " Now hush up, before the girls hear you."  


"Git," Hermione rolled her eyes, and they both quietly set their minds back to that night's events those so few days ago.

~~~~ 

…."Who on earth wants to grow their nose hairs into ringlets!?" Hermione cried out, frustrated by her uncharacteristically poor research results.  


"I wouldn't mind," Fred’s voice intruded the silence of the library. "Be a talking point wouldn't it?"  


Harry and Ron jumped with her, startled by the disturbance. They turned to see the twins coming out from around the bookshelves.  


"What are you doing here?" Ron said, squinting to focus on their identical figures. He had skimmed more books that night than either Hermione or Harry for the solution to the fast approaching task. Hermione wondered how to instill that kind of motivation in him without threatening the life of their best friend.  


"Looking for you," George replied haughtily. "McGonagall wants you, Ron," he stopped and gave a wicked little grin, as if whatever he was about to say was the most amusing thing ever. "And you, Hermione."  


Hermione pursed her lips, refusing to give the twins the satisfaction of seeing her frazzled. Nevertheless, she felt her eyes widen in terror, and her heart begin to pound.  


"Why!?"  


"Dunno,” Fred feigned nonchalance by picking at his teeth with his pinky. “But she was looking a bit grim, though."  


"We're supposed to take you down to her office," George continued.  


Hermione shared a glance with Ron, and they silently agreed to turn and check with Harry, as if needing his permission to be excused, but he only seemed preoccupied with fear.  


"We'll meet you back at the common room," Hermione said. She knew it was getting late and the library would probably be closed before they could return. She really didn’t want to leave Harry behind, especially the night before a task, but the alternative was to disregard a request from Professor McGonagall. She and Ron got up and gathered their things to go with the twins. "Bring back as many books as you can," She instructed carefully, before retreating from view with the three Weasleys. She craned her head over her shoulder hoping Harry would break from his sullen state and get back to studying.  


Once out of Harry's sight, concern overtook Ron's features.  


"This isn't good, Hermione." He ran his hand through his hair. It was longer than she had ever seen it before and Hermione had noticed Ron developing something of a habit of digging his fingers into his hair to scratch behind his ear or tug at his fringe. The locks he displaced stood at an angle away from his head. "She's going to tell us off for helping him. McGonagall loves to win, but she's a real sword in a boulder about rule breaking."  


"Well someone has to be," Hermione muttered with a snort.  


"Hermione this is no time for jokes." Ron scolded, looking only slightly deranged with his mad hair. "She's going to bust our heads together. We're getting detention. Harry's going to drown tomorrow and what's worse Krum's going to win the tournament!"  


_And he thinks I need my priorities set straight_ , Ron was too absorbed listing other 'terrible' consequences to notice Hermione glaring at him.  


"Ron, be reasonable! She's probably calling us in about extra credit work or a missing test grade," She hoped she sounded calm and wise, but even she knew those odds were slim.  


"Or maybe she's just as damn tired of watching these love birds bicker after four years," George muttered only within ear shot of Fred, who snickered.  


"What?" Hermione snapped indignantly.  


"Hermione, seriously, what the hell kind of chance is there that she chooses tonight to ask us for a chat about our grades?"  


"Well, I'm just thinking of every possibility, Ronald," Hermione argued frantically. "Would you rather be expelled for cheating with Harry?" she exclaimed, escalated to hysterics.  


"EXPELLED!?" Ron's face paled in new terror. "Who said anything about being expelled!?"  


"You know that has happened before," George said, sending a wink in Fred's direction.  


"Yeah, some bloke years ago, before it was canceled," Fred picked up George's aim and continued. "They caught him tinkering with the tournament. They snapped his wand." He clenched a fist on the word 'snapped' and startled Hermione.  


"Family completely disowned him," George added loudly toward Ron.  


"Lived off the streets, a _poor-forgotten-nobody_!" Fred shook his head in shame. Betraying her skepticism, a tiny whimper came from the back of Hermione’s throat. She knew the twins were exaggerating. They had to be. How would they know about that wizard? And what was his name anyways? Wouldn’t they say? And—  


"Well good luck!" The twins said in off beat unison of cheerfulness, as they ushered Hermione and Ron towards the door to the Transfigurations Classroom. Hermione reached out a hand to push into the room, but took one last look at Ron. She was comforted by his shaky smile, and for a moment she thought everything would be okay as long as they stuck together.  


"Weasley, Granger. Please do not dawdle in the doorway.” They both snapped to attention to the sound of their names. McGonagall stood at attention, fingers poised on her desk, but she wasn't alone. Professor Dumbledore was standing dutifully in front of the black board, and two other students were standing before him. They both looked over their shoulders with trepidation. Hermione immediately recognized the taller of the two students; Cho Chang. The second, she suspected, was related to Fleur Delacour, because—being perfectly frank—she was a 4'8" replica of the part Veela champion.  


"Come in, come in," Dumbledore entreated them."We have much to discuss. Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger." Hermione and Ron glanced at each other in uncertainty before approaching the rest of the impromptu party. Hermione patted the creases in her robes down to make them halfway presentable for the Headmaster. She even spied Ron combing his hair back down and straightening his long forgotten tie as he strided to the front of the classroom with her.  


"You already know Miss Chang of Ravenclaw House." The Headmaster gestured to Cho with pride, "And this is Gabrielle Delacour, of BeauxBatons." Dumbledore nodded to the youngest witch in the room amiably. “Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger are fourth year Gryffindors here at Hogwarts, Miss Delacour.”  


“Weeth ‘arry Potter?” Gabrielle arched her crescent moon eyebrow, and blushed. Hermione made a wry mental note to let Ginny know she had some competition.  


"With introductions out of the way, let's move onto the reason we've called you here tonight. As you well know, the second task is to take place tomorrow morning. And you four are here on a very serious matter."  


"Alright. What's the punishment?" Ron yelped. Hermione scowled at him for breaking so easily, but she grasped her wand in her robes pocket; subconsciously protecting it from its future snapping.  


"Punishment?" Dumbledore parroted Ron, bemused.  


"You know, for hel—OUCH!" Ron began to explain himself but was caught off guard by a sharp shock to his foot. He limped in place as his foot spasmed. He eyed Hermione suspiciously.  


"He's joking!" Hermione corrected with a shaky laugh, as she slipped her hand out of her robes releasing her wand. She shot Ron a silent apology for sending him the shock.  


"Ah, ha-ha, yes, yes of course." The old Professor softly chuckled, with a knowing smile. "Well, this is certainly no punishment, Mr. Weasley. You have all been selected to participate in tomorrow's task!"  


"You mean we'll be working alongside the champions?" Cho asked, intrigued.  


"In a sense." The white bearded professor weighed his answer carefully. "You'll be acting as the champion's motivation, shall we say."  


"Albus, it's best, I think, that we don't beat around the bush," Professor McGonagall advised.  


"Yes, yes, quite right. All of you may have noticed that you are each connected to at least one of the champions. Tomorrow's challenge, if you aren't aware, is within the hour the champions must go into the lake and retrieve what the merpeople have taken—"  


"Yeah, what is that going to be?" No longer fearing punishment, Ron didn’t seem to mind intruding Dumbledore’s speech with his own thoughts out loud. "Is that what you need us for? Are we picking the thing they'd 'miss the most'?"  


"You're close, Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore said with a sage smile. He strolled away from the chalkboard and paced the room. "No, We've already chosen what's to be taken."  


The professor had made his way to stand directly in front of Ron. "And I'll tell you, that in Mr Potter's case, his missing item is something that he truly could not manage without…" Dumbledore put a wizen hand on Ron's shoulder, and his serene smile made his crystal eyes twinkle.  


"So, what?" Ron furrowed his brow to conjure a limp guess, "…Like his glasses?"  


"Ron!" Hermione hissed, as she slapped him on the other shoulder. "He's talking about YOU!"  


"Oh!" The statement quickly dawned on him with warm pride. Then, his face fell once more with fear as he bellowed, "WAIT, YOU'RE TAKING US!?"  


"Vaht!?" Gabrielle squeaked with a frightened pout. Hermione reached a hand to her shoulder in a timid attempt to comfort her. Even Cho gasped at this reveal.  


"Don't be alarmed." Dumbledore brought order back to the small crowd. "I've discussed it with the officials, and the merpeople of the lake. It's very simple; you will all be put under a powerful charm that will suspend your consciousness, and the merpeople will take you to the decided location, where tomorrow your respective champions will hopefully find you!"  


"Hopefully?!" Ron's voice cracked. Dumbledore raised his hands to signal the students to yield their questions.  


"In the unlikely event your respective champions return to the surface without you, the merpeople will escort you to the surface." Dumbledore explained calmly, "The Merfolk, while somewhat ornarary, are very good-natured and they will see to it that you won't be harmed while in their care. I'll be performing the sleeping spell, you'll be unconscious the whole time underwater, and you will wake up when you break the surface of the water. Mr. Weasley, if there was anything that I saw unfit to your safety we would not be here discussing this. So, are there any more questions?"  


Ron, now at ease, turned to the ladies with a content nod for Hermione. Hermione returned a nervous, encouraging smile, but she noticed Ron was looking past her. He furrowed his brow as he appeared to count the three of them. He turned back to the teachers and raised his hand, tentatively.  


"Yes, Mr. Weasley?"  


"Why am I the only bloke?"  


"What?!" Hermione sent him a withering look for the simple stupidity of this question.  


"An excellent query, Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore congratulated Ron. Ron looked smugly back to Hermione. She rolled her eyes begrudgingly. "You see, ever since the tournament's establishment, it has always been something of a tradition that the second task includes the champions' peers and loved ones. It raises the stakes and it makes the schools feel more involved in the tournament," 

Dumbledore divulged. "It was also the original reason for the Yule Ball," He added this “fun” little fact avidly.  


"The ball's a set-up?" Ron paled. Hermione also silently grimaced as she realized she would be Viktor Krum's most missed item, all because she accepted his invitation to a dance. "So why isn't Parvati here, or Davies?" Ron whinged, indignantly.  


"The Ball _was_ a set-up, Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore clarified. "Some years after the event began, there was a terrible tragedy…" He shook his head with a mournful, distant look in his eye. After his moment of silence, he turned back to the students as pleasant and amiable as before. "Well, the methods of choosing participants—and the laws of wizard's tug of war—were changed after that." Dumbledore paused in reflection, as the rest of the group simply gaped. Hermione wondered if it wasn’t too late to decline the opportunity. She was suddenly remembering the first task’s dragons in vivid detail.  


"Now, we use the Ball more as guidelines, if you will, to lead us to the choices. So you see, Mr Krum's fondness for Miss Granger-" Hermione looked to the Headmaster to stop explaining Viktor's attachment to her, he obliged and quickly moved on. "-And Cedric Diggory's enchantment with Miss Chang were rather convenient circumstances. Conversely, Miss Delacour may have been escorted to the Ball by Mr. Davies, but that engagement was rather short lived." Dumbledore left the rest of that situation to the students' imaginations. "Regardless, Madame Maxime indicated the Delacour sisters are much more closely bonded than any relationship Fleur has forged in her time here. Likewise, Mr. Potter may have arrived and danced with Miss Patil during the ceremony, but it was seen that afterwards he spent the majority of the night with you, Mr. Weasley."  


"Oh, this is terrible for Harry." Ron thought out loud in horror. His hands flew back onto his head as he pulled at his hair again.  


"That he has to save you?" Hermione snorted.  


"Well, think of it! Krum comes up with you," Ron groused, Hermione shied away at his disgusted tone. "Cedric comes up with his girlfriend, Fleur comes out with her sister, and Harry comes up with me!? What kind of image do you think that's going to give the audience? Hermione," He continued in an urgent whisper, "They're going to think we're a couple of poofs!" (Unnoticed by the children the Transfigurations teacher gave a pointed look at the Headmaster).  


"Ron! Don't be so offensive!" Hermione admonished him with a blush.  


"What's it matter?!" Ron called out, with reckless abandon, "It's not like there's one in here!" Ron announced to the rafters, "I'm the only bloke! Remember!?"  


"Ron you are overreacting. Nobody's going to think anything of Harry saving you."  


"What about that Skeeter woman? She's got it out for Harry.” Ron snipped with paranoia.  


"Rita Skeeter _already_ wrote her rubbish article about Harry dating _me_ ," Hermione blurted out, embarrassed to remind the room of that trash that passed for journalism.  


"Exactly!" Ron called out, as if Hermione had proved his point. "The way she sees it, you chucked Harry for Krum. What's to stop her writing about Harry's tragic rebound... to...me?" Ron gulped down on his words, as if they could actually leave a bad taste in his mouth. "This is just the type of thing she'd love to twist in one of her little exposés!"  


"Mr Weasley, Rita Skeeter has been banned from campus grounds and she is not at liberty to report on tomorrow's task." Dumbledore promised, earnest and sober.  


Ron nodded, somewhat bolstered by Dumbledore's authority.  


"See, Ron.” Hermione was happy that he was seeing reason. She still felt like he was missing the bigger picture and could not help herself adding, “Anyways, no one should bother with the things she says. _Everybody_ knows you and Harry are best friends, and that Harry fancies-" she snapped her babbling mouth shut to rephrase her planned statement, "A-a girl..."  


Silence gripped the room for a moment.  


"Smooooooooth." Ron elongated the word to fit it with as much sarcasm as possible. Hermione stared at her shoes in penance. The rest of the eyes in the room drifted over to the blushing Ravenclaw, who was studying a ceiling buttress with forced fascination.  


“With no other questions,” Professor McGonagall took hold of the silence. “The Headmaster and I should send for the Merfolk and have them ready to receive you.”  


“Yes,” Dumbledore concurred, gesturing for his deputy to lead the way out of the classroom. “We will return shortly. Please, feel free to talk amongst yourselves.”  


"I only meant..." With the teachers gone, Hermione was still compelled to furiously backtrack, she needed to get her point across one way or another. "It would be exactly the same if I were Harry's hostage."  


"That's another thing!" Ron jabbed a finger in the air. "We're both Harry's friends. What if he thinks to save you instead of me?!"  


"Ron, that's preposterous." Hermione countered with half her heart. This was Harry they were talking about.  


"What's preposterous about it? You just said we're equals as Harry's friends." Ron pressed, using her sound logic against her.  


"Well, because Viktor will be saving me-"  


"OH!" Ron reeled at the mention of Viktor. "So now Krum's automatically beating Harry to you?"  


"That's not what I meant!" She screeched back. Hermione paused to take a deep breath before continuing in a more dignified tone. Cho and Gabrielle had quietly stepped back to watch them row, and Hermione was painfully aware of their stares. "I was trying to say, when Harry sees his choices he's smart enough to see—through the process of elimination—that you're his only possible hostage."  


"Get real," Ron shot back cynically. "Harry will probably cock this whole thing up and try to save the lot of us." He gestured to the four participating hostages. "Even so, what if he thinks I'm for someone else?"  


"Oh. My. Goodness," Hermione felt a fury rise inside of her. "Which of the other champions could Harry think you belong to? Fleur?" She sneered.  


"Well, I don't know…I did ask her to the ball," Ron defended sheepishly.  


"Yes. And, she said no," Hermione said, biting back her jealousy.  


"Oh! You are 'zee cute leetle red 'ed'!" Gabrielle realized with a giggle.  


"See, I'm cute!" Ron bragged to Hermione.  


"Little redhead." Hermione completed the title with condescending finger quotes.  


"Maybe she'd think about giving me another shot. Davies obviously didn't hold her attention…"  


"That's really rich, Ronald," Hermione shot back, too furious to care about the others watching now. "Fleur can go about with any boy she fancies."  


"Well," He contemplated with a shrug. "BeauxBatons is a Girls' only school so…"  


"RON!" She trampled his response as he had missed the point…again. "You jumped down my throat for politely accepting Viktor's invitation and now you have nothing to say about her behavior?!"  


"No, it's totally different." Ron said testily.  


"Why?!" She cried out wobbling on a sob.  


"Because Fleur's not my friend!" Ron exploded. His response silenced the room for a shattered moment. Hermione and Ron stared at each other, both of them stunned by his outburst.  


“Mr Weasley! Miss Granger! That is **quite** enough!" McGonagall stepped between them, jolting them to stand at her attention. The teachers had made their way back to the class room without either of them realizing it. Hermione flushed as she realized she might have been crying in front of her two most respected superiors. "We’ve entertained these contingencies long enough. Merpeople are known to be rather impatient creatures; I think it best you continue this discussion later."  


"Yes, Professor McGonagall is right, the Merfolk do not like to be kept waiting." Dumbledore joined in to placate the quarrel. "However, these sleeping incantations work best on rested minds at peace. Miss Delacour, Miss Chang, if you are ready, we can start with your transformations."  


"I...am not so sure I will be at peace until I see this conversation to the end," Cho quipped, thankful that she was no longer the focal point of the embarrassment in the room. Hermione and Ron averted their eyes from the rest of the group.  


"Now, Miss Chang," Professor McGonagall said, wryly. "There are better uses for that Ravenclaw perception. I believe I have some chocolate to calm your nerves. If you ladies will follow me. Miss Granger and Mr Weasley, we will return for you, shortly."  


Professor McGonagall gave both Hermione and Ron a reproving stare as if to say, ‘for Godric’s sake stop embarrassing our House!’ before turning on her heel to lead the two girls out the door.  


Alone, the friends stewed in the awkward silence.  


"Look, Ron—" Hermione began, wanting to be the bigger person. If only, perhaps, to spite him more.  


"Hermione," He cut her off, the defeat in his voice gave her pause. "I reckon you'll do whatever you want, but you've just been acting really different. First you change your teeth with magic; making the front page of the papers as Harry's fake girlfriend, and next you're talking to weird sods that can't even say your name properly."  


"It's one sod—" Hermione began to protest. "Boy. And he is making leaps and bounds learning english every—" she touted Viktor’s accomplishments, then shook her head realizing she must sound like a broken record. “Forget it. This still doesn’t make you entitled to my personal life. I can have more friends than you and Harry.”  


"Er….I suppose. You’ve never needed other friends before," Ron's brow furrowed. "And Krum’s just..He's quiet...and odd...and hasn't known you very long...he can't possibly know you the way I—I mean—Harry and I do."  


"I wouldn't say that he does," Hermione conceded, "Doesn't mean you shouldn't trust I know what I'm doing."  


"Sure," Ron said, tersely, his face reddening. He shuffled his feet as he mumbled, "I know you’re usually ahead of the curve on most things, but-” He paused and reflected on what to say next, “I remember last year with the time-turner running yourself ragged. You said you could handle it—and I know I’m a prat for saying so—"  


Hermione's cheeks pinked as she looked up into his eyes. His backwards way of caring moved her to gather Ron up into a hug around his waist. Ron faltered as she settled her head on his chest. He placed his arms around her shoulders gently returning the embrace. Hermione smiled against his nervous heartbeat, imagining what the last few months might have been had she just told Ron she would have liked to have gone to the ball with him when she had the chance.  


Perhaps it would be good to tell him that, now. They thoroughly ruined that evening for each other over this misunderstanding. She had never wanted to be in the spotlit role on Viktor Krum's arm.  


Plucking up the courage, she stepped out of the hug to look up and tell him. He peered down at her.  


"And Fleur…" Ron contemplated, "Fleur can go bugger off with one of my brothers for all I care. She's got her own friends to talk her out of bad ideas."  


A good humored grin bloomed between them, but Hermione could only half heartedly chuckle, mostly laughing at her own expense. She remembered the way Fleur bewitched Ron in the halls, just before she was going to suggest they go together. How could she ever be naive enough to think Ron would see her as anything beyond his bookish friend. Confiding in him now might only confuse him.  


The moment of courage passed, Dumbledore emerged in the classroom entrance once more and surveyed the situation.  


"Misses Chang and Delacour's enchantments have been successfully placed," He announced. "If you both are ready to begin, you may follow me."  


"Er… Professor Dumbledore, I recall McGonagall saying some about chocolate." Ron perked up with the reminder.  


Dumbledore laughed politely. "Quite right, again Mr Weasley." The professor winked behind his half moon glasses. "Miss Delacour needed a bit more calming down, but let me see what I can do." Lifting his wand, Dumbledore conjured a single bar of chocolate between the two Gryffindors.  


"Brilliant!" Ron grabbed the bar from the spot it floated, "Cheers, Professor!" Ron thanked him, tearing the foil away from the sweet. Throughout this exchange, Hermione continued rolling her eyes again and again, wondering how she could have managed to develop a crush on the most single minded boy in all of creation.  


"Hermione?"  


Hermione blinked. Ron was prodding the bar of chocolate towards her with a small kind smile.  


"I reckon it’s going to be a long while before breakfast, in that lake..." He reasoned. Hermione felt her knees weaken in sight of his crooked grin. She managed a short friendly nod back and snapped off a few squares of chocolate from the bar.  


Ron raised his half in a small toast, before taking a large chomp into the bar and lazily followed after the Headmaster. Hermione followed suit, biting into the rich smooth treat. At that moment, however, she felt like she had already eaten 6 bars of chocolate; her stomach twisting and the warmth in her chest growing more and more.  


"Especially," Ron muttered discreetly over his shoulder for only Hermione to hear. "Since Harry will probably bugger off with Cho Chang on his first dive down, and need to come back for us."  


Hermione choked on the last of her chocolate holding in her laughter.  


They followed after Dumbledore, snickering to each other.  


The last things they remembered was the Headmaster instructing them to stand still and take one deep breath, as he waved his wand.

~~~~ 

"...Fancy a game of chess?" asked Ron idly, from his spot across the table.  


"Fancy what?" Hermione shook from her mental visit to her memories, "hmm?"  


"Chess?" Ron repeated, amused to catch her off guard. "A game or two before dinner?"  


"Oh," Her eager smile betrayed her attempt to nonchalantly accept his offer. "Yes I-"  


"Oi, Weasley!" They both looked for the person calling from across the room. "Where's your boyfriend?" Cormac McLaggen quipped, strutting past their table as he headed for the boys' dormitory. "I reckon you'd _fancy_ a game with Harry Potter more!?"  


Ron's mouth was a very thin line, while Hermione's jaw dropped at the complete oafishness of her upperclassmen's comment.  


"Yeah-well-you-!" Ron started to say, but, try as he might, he could not string the words together for a proper retort. The moment past, McLaggen had thromped up the stairs and out of sight, "Sod!" Ron mustered mostly for himself and Hermione to hear. For once Hermione didn't have the heart to admonish Ron for his apt yet crude assessment of Cormac.  


"I told you," sniped Ron knowingly, his mood thoroughly soured.  


"Does what he said truly bother you?" Hermione leaned toward him across the table.  


"Nah," Ron shook his head, he glanced around the room self-conscious to know if anyone else was discussing the outburst. "McLaggen is a tit, and everyone knows that."  


"Then why were you so worried everyone would think that about you and Harry."  


"I told you," Ron urged, rummaging through his bookbag for his chess set. "That Skeeter woman finds a way to make everything sound… _sorid_." He wrinkled his nose over the stench of the word. Hermione frowned in agreement; Skeeter's latest published work disgracing Hagrid proved as much.  


"Even if we were...that way...I still wouldn't appreciate having it announced on our behalf by one of her 'articles'," Ron fumed as he set up the chess board and shoved the living chessmen into place with his finger.  


"Unprofessional to say the least," Hermione chimed in, finding it hard not to enjoy Ron for once being the one to crusade an injustice, even if it was hypothetical.  


"I should say so," Ron nodded back, indignantly, "In any case, I think we handled everything quite well." Ron stretched overhead, His untucked shirt lifting to reveal the hint of his midriff.  


"Oh?" Hermione attempted to stay engaged in what he was saying but let her head tilt as she watched him flex muscles he had developed over the previous summer. She wondered if she was the only girl to notice them so far.  


"Well, I dunno," Ron, unphased by her staring, slumped back into his chair and continued his thought, "Most of the school thinks I helped Harry save Fleur's little sister."  


"Hmm, I wonder where they might have gotten that idea." Hermione said with stoney sarcasm as she quirked an eyebrow at Ron.  


"Erm...yeah, might have got a bit carried away." Ron admitted, rubbing the back of his ruddied neck. "But it sure does distract the connection between who got taken in the lake. Who knows, maybe Skeeter got bored of picking on Harry..." He shrugged with hope and then called the first chess move on the board in front of them.  


"Yes," Hermione concurred, shaking herself to look down at the chessboard and stop staring at Ron. She politely requested her pawn to move. "Harry has enough to handle without people thinking he fancies you."  


Ron chuckled at the notion and pondered his rebuttal on the board. Hermione watched him again. His eyes flicked up from the board to catch her staring. Her stomach twisted and her heart warmed as he smiled back at her.  


_Fancying your best friend is so taxing, I wouldn't wish it on anyone._

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for Reading!


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